Objects, such as bicycles, may be carried on the roof of a vehicle. One or more bicycles can be attached to the vehicle via a roof mounted rack. A risk associated with this practice is forgetting that the bicycle is on the vehicle when driving the vehicle. It is well known that people attempt to enter their garage or other structure with the bicycle still on the roof of the vehicle. When this happens, damage can occur to the bicycle, the roof rack, the vehicle, and the garage. Similarly, damage may occur when a vehicle with a roof-mounted bicycle drives beneath any low-ceilinged passage or low-overhanging structure. There have been cases where drivers have had difficulty getting insurance reimbursement for such accidents.
There are some existing solutions to this problem. One is to place a garbage can or other object in the entrance of the garage so that when returning, the vehicle cannot enter the garage. The object serves as a reminder to the driver. Another method is to place a mirror above the garage door so that when attempting to enter the garage, the bicycle can be seen, reminding the driver to remove it. Another method is to put the vehicle's garage door opener in an inconvenient place. When retrieving the opener, the driver is more likely to remember that the bicycle is on the vehicle. Another option is to discontinue parking the car in the garage. Finally, there are numerous collision avoidance systems for vehicles based on video signals or interpreting the reflections from laser or ultrasonic sources. These are used to find and identify hazards in the vehicle's path.
There are shortcomings to all these solutions. The garbage can method requires the driver to place and remove the garbage can or other object. That is two extra steps added to the process of going for a bike ride. Additionally, it is possible for the driver to forget to place the object or for someone other than the driver to move the object. The mirror method requires a large mirror so that it is not overlooked when entering the garage. A large mirror mounted above the garage is not aesthetically pleasing. Putting the garage door opener in a hard to access place is an inconvenience and a step that can be forgotten. The option of not using the garage has the obvious shortcoming that the driver no longer enjoys the benefits of parking their car in a garage. The collision avoidance systems have the shortcoming that they do not have the ability to detect when there is a difference in the vehicle, such as the presence or absence of a bike on top. Without this capability, the collision avoidance system will give many false positives. This could result in the user ignoring a genuine positive and cause a collision.
Another attempt to solve this problem is to provide a detector within a roof rack of a vehicle that emits a signal when a bicycle is mounted on the roof rack. See U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0256707, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. However, this may require that the bicycle be precise placed on the roof track in order to engage the detector. Also, this does not accommodate for different heights in the vehicle or the bicycle, which may result in false positives, or not detecting a genuine collision threat.
Therefore, a need exists for improved systems and method for alerting a user of an obstruction for an object mounted on a vehicle. A further need exists to alert a user of an obstruction for a bicycle mounted in a roof of a vehicle.